A NEW foodbank will be launched in the heart of Boscombe next week to ensure families and young children in desperate need do not go hungry.

The volunteer-led distribution centre at St George’s Church will act as a lifeline for families who are struggling to put food on the table.

Donations will still be received at the main centre in Charminster, but food parcels will now also be handed out at the new Trussell Trust Foodbank centre on Portman Road.

Reverend Sue Gowling, who will be heading up the new foodbank, said: “It is a real celebration that we are opening for business and serving the community. We will be acting as a satellite for the main centre in Charminster, but it is a really positive move that we are expanding.

“People can come and use the foodbank as long as they have a voucher.”

The Trussell Trust has announced that the number of people using its 400 foodbanks nationally had trebled over the previous six months to 350,000, compared with the same period last year.

Debbie Bramley, who runs Bournemouth Foodbank in Charminster, said they are currently feeding around 250 families a week and demand continues to increase.

Each family is only allowed to use the service three times over six months, and a food parcel only lasts about three days. Foodbank assistant Rebecca Lent said: “It will be a real life-saver for people who have nothing. We will initially be starting out small, but hopefully we will grow.

“The more people we can bless with food the better.”

The new foodbank will launched on February 4 and it will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12.30pm to 2.30pm.